Second Dawn
by ddaulton94
Summary: Four years ago the crew of the Ghost disbanded and each member went on to aid the Rebellion in their own way. Now the war has ended, and Sabine Wren immediately receives a message from Ezra asking to meet. What will their reunion bring? What new scars have they developed? What old wounds never healed? And what new adventures await them as their relationship begins its second dawn?
1. Ungraceful Reunion

**A/N: Not sure how to do an intro. Shout-outs to RagnarDanneskjold for being supportive of this first chapter. Go check their Rebels stories. They are a fun read. I do recommend reading this with a very small page width. Like super small. The layout just looks weird when put into a large window... but that's just _my_ opinion. Anyway, let's get right into the first chapter of my first fanfiction, " _Star Wars Rebels: Second Dawn_ ".**

* * *

The bounding cheers of celebration filled the cantina. It had been like this for three days now, not that anyone was complaining. After all, the Emperor was defeated along with his battle-station of death. The Empire that had ruthlessly ruled this system and several others for the past twenty-four or so years was crumbling, and its last remnants were scattered and on the run from the victorious rebellion.

Nearly every patron of the cantina since then had been involved with the rebellion one way or another. The rowdiest bunch always seemed to be the pilots. Every now and then the standard level of excitement in the room would be overcome by a drunk choir of them singing increasingly different versions of their squad-song because they were too drunk to remember it correctly. Friendly contests would even take center stage at least once a day to see whose song provided the best entertainment. However, the greatest moments happened when the entire room would settle down to listen as separate groups would detail their exciting encounters with the Empire. Some stories left the room in a fit of laughter, leaving many to wonder why they had ever been afraid of the Empire's seemingly incapable armies. Others put the room in a graveyard silence from the sheer tension and near hopelessness of the encounter, and many ended with poignant toast saluting the comrades whose sacrifice made their victory possible. And It was just after another one of those stories, amidst the audience's excited cheers, that the Mandalorian Sabine Wren entered the cantina.

"Give me a Blue Mappa," Sabine told the Barkeep, taking a seat at one of the bar's stools and placing her helmet onto the one next to her.

He gave her a tough look. "Maybe after you set your helmet somewhere else. Bars too crowded to take up more than your share of space."

"Then make it two Mappas. A friend I'm meeting here is going to need it. As well as this seat." Sabine smiled, sliding some credits towards the Barkeep. "And please… keep the change."

"I'm sorry, but saving seats is not… ", the Barkeep paused before re-counting the amount Sabine had given him. It was more than the two drinks were worth, _much_ more _._ Even those luxurious lounges in the upper city wouldn't charge this much. "Two blues coming up."

Sabine smiled as the man set down two drinks before her before promptly attending to another patron. While some things had changed, she was happy to see that money still talked. Of course, there was another reason for her good mood as well. She was going to see her old crewmate, Ezra Bridger, for the first time in years. In fact, he was the only crew member of the Ghost she hadn't seen since their disbanding. Well… besides one other.

"Kanan…"

Sabine lost her smile and simply stared at her reflection in her drink. If only things had gone differently on that fateful day. Perhaps if even one decision she made that day could be changed, then Kanan might still be here… and the crew—no, her family—would be together with her right now, celebrating as they always would after a huge victory.

Sabine sighed, deciding it best to keep her thoughts focused on Ezra. Besides not seeing him for four years, she also had little idea of what he had been up to. The only thing she knew was that he remained a part of the rebellion. She remembered how at least once a week for the first year she would request an update from Command on the status of each ex-member of the Ghost. Of course, she was never allowed to know the details of their missions, only that they were alive. But then weekly check-ins turned into monthly, and sometimes bi-monthly. Sabine was a bit ashamed, she never would have expected to lose that tenacity for making sure everyone was okay. Granted, her occasional run-ins with Hera, Chopper, and sometimes Zeb likely had something to do with her loss of anxiousness, but it was no excuse for her negligence with Ezra's wellbeing. But finally, the war had ended. And the first thing Sabine did was check up on everyone's status once again. They had all survived, and the information left Sabine in thankful tears that night. And before she could even begin to get in touch with everyone, the next morning began with her receiving a written message asking her to come to this place, signed by none other than Ezra himself.

The thought of Ezra's first decision after the war being to meet with her left Sabine feeling warm. What did he look like? Was he still the kind of person to deliver quippy one-liners in the face of danger? Or did the last four years of war change him completely? The thought of him being a closed-off, battle-hardened veteran made her sad. However, Sabine knew that no matter how much he had changed, she was ready to accept him.

"Unless maybe he went back to that stupid haircut," Sabine joked to herself, almost choking on her drink from the chuckle it gave her.

"Attention rebel!" A commanding voice suddenly sounded behind her.

Sabine peeked over her shoulder, only to be caught off guard by the sight of a Stormtrooper standing close behind her.

"I need to see your papers immediat-AGH!"

With a swift kick the chest, Sabine sent the Trooper flying into the wall beside them. Immediately she brought out her blaster side-arms and prepared to shoot, only to realize that her victim wasn't a Stormtrooper at all. The helmet was the only piece of Stormtrooper armor they were wearing, and the rest was just normal clothes except for the jacket—which had a clear emblem of the Rebellion sewn onto it.

"Ughhhhh…" The person she kicked groaned, barely managing to sit themselves up against the wall.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Sabine lowered her weapons as the fake Trooper removed his helmet, revealing the familiar face of her old crew-mate from under it.

"Hey Sabine. Long time no see… oof..."

"Ezra…"

* * *

"How in the world did you think you think wearing one of your Imperial trooper helmets was the best way to greet someone in a _Rebellion_ Cantina?" Sabine scolded her long awaited visitor, at the same time shining a light into his eyes to check for any signs of head trauma.

"Well, y'know. Figured it would be a rare opportunity to catch you off guard. I mean who would expect to see an Imperial soldier after they lost the war?"

"And I'm sure no part of you considered getting kicked across the room… or shot in the head."

"C'mon you know me. I'd dodge a blaster no problem."

"Oh, but a kick is too much to avoid?"

Ezra raised a finger and opened his mouth as if the pose itself would help him think of the greatest argument in the galaxy. Unfortunately, the only thing that made it into his brain was that he _had_ no argument.

"Okay, so mayyyybe it wasn't the greatest idea," He conceded. "But maybe I was just too excited that I wasn't thinking clear-OWW OWW!"

Sabine pulled hard on Ezra's right ear just like Hera used to do whenever he did something stupid—which was usually all the time.

"Yeah, well I was pretty excited too until you decided to pull that stunt." Sabine said as she took her seat next to Ezra and tossed back another drink. She was only half serious, but the fact that her gaze was now avoiding his direction did give Ezra a clue that a part of her _was_ annoyed.

"Well then… maybe I can start over."

Sabine swiveled her stool a bit in Ezra's direction to get a look at him but was caught off guard once again, this time by the gentle placement of his hand on top of hers.

"It's been a long time… and I'm really glad you're okay, Sabine."

"…"

Sabine's mouth opened, yet no words were found by her. She had become lost in Ezra's gaze which gleamed a gentleness she wasn't familiar with. A sudden heat filled her eyes, causing her to look away to hide a trace tear that found its way down her cheek. Her hand remained under his however, and that was the only clue Ezra needed to understand this was a good reaction.

"Idiot…" Sabine whispered, sneaking a wipe of her cheek before turning back to Ezra with a smile and the faintest touch of red in her eyes.

"…I'm glad you're okay too."

* * *

"So, you've been undercover this whole time?" Sabine awed.

"That's right, I journeyed to several Imperial systems in the mid and outer rims. Every time gathering intel on potential Rebellion sympathizers and Imperial defectors present there."

"Shut up!" Sabine shouted, hitting him in the shoulder. "I spent the last two years coordinating ally extractions from those same sectors!"

"Seriously!?" Ezra exclaimed in amazement.

Sabine looked down at her cup, tracing the rim of it delicately with her finger. "That's amazing… I wonder how many of the missions I drew up were based on your intel?"

"Hard to say," Ezra mused. "There were a good number of us spread throughout the galaxy."

"That's true… and besides, my Commander was the only one with the clearance to know our informants' identities. Wait, is there a chance you knew him? Commander Kraine?"

"I wish I could say yes, but I was never given the names of my Rebellion contacts, only temporary aliases which were kept secret between us. _And_ there was never a hologram for me to see their face so I really have no idea who any of my contacts were these past four years."

"Ugh, that's so annoying. We'll probably never know how close we came to being a transmission away from each other."

Ezra laughed, "And how would you even have gotten a transmission to me?"

"By stealing Kraine's access codes, duh?" Sabine pushed back.

"Oh sure, risk compromising the Rebellion's comm-links just so you can nag me again."

"Mmph!" Sabine punctuated her argument by playfully sticking her tongue out at Ezra.

This unexpected response made Ezra break into a fit of laughter followed immediately by Sabine herself, which accidentally caused her stuck-out tongue to turn into a full-blown raspberry.

"AH-UCK! You spit on me!" Ezra flailed backwards in a fit of half laughter and half disgust, doing his best to wipe his face clean of the Mandalorian's spit.

Of course, this only made Sabine laugh even harder. To the point that tears started to fill her eyes and breathing became impossible. Sabine couldn't remember the last time she laughed this hard. In fact, there was a real possibility that this was the first time. Eventually though, the two managed to wind themselves down, battling the occasional stifled laugh until they were calm again.

"Have you gotten in touch with everyone else?" Sabine started. "From my occasional run-ins with Hera and Zeb, it was clear that they didn't know where you were either."

"Actually, I ran into Zeb pretty much immediately. His unit regrouped onto the same star cruiser I wound up returning to. He actually helped me get my message to you, and then we bunked together—trading war stories and all that."

"And he couldn't come?"

"I asked him to… but he said his unit was going to re-deploy immediately. Some kind of clean-up of the remaining Imperial bases."

Sabine sighed. "Then I'm sure Hera and Chopper are in the same situation. With her piloting ability and passion for the Rebellion, she won't stop until the Empire's remnants are wiped out completely."

"Probably… I wonder if she even _wants_ to see me after all these years."

"Ezra, stop. You know she doesn't blame you for Kanan—or what happened with the Ghost."

"Her reaction to it after said otherwise… not that I blame her. The Ghost was her strongest tie to Kanan… and I destroyed it."

"You saved us-"

"But it was my fault we needed to be saved!" Ezra slammed his hands onto the counter, voice raised. Immediately he regretted it however, bowing his head down against his folded hands. "If I had just been more careful… If I could have just _sensed_ what was going to happen…"

Sabine leaned over, placing her hand gently onto Ezra's shoulder. "It was just a starship, Ezra. I know Hera said those things, but I also know that's not the way she feels now. Ezra, she regretted it so much after you left. And she also knows she's not the only one who lost an important memento of Kanan that day."

Ezra looked worriedly at Sabine. "You told her…?"

"That that was the same day you lost your Jedi powers, and the Saber you used alongside Kanan? …Yes, she knows."

"Sabine… you promised not to do that."

"I had to, Ezra. Even Zeb agreed. It was the push she needed to realize her mistake."

"I just… I just don't know if I'm ready to face her. Even if she has forgiven me… I'm just not sure that I deserve it."

"Just wait until you see her again, Ezra. She'll _make_ you understand."

Ezra let out a stunted laugh at Sabine's words. Hera always was good at getting her way. Maybe he _was_ being foolish, holding onto this idea that he didn't deserve Hera's friendship anymore. Maybe he would give a meeting with her a chance.

Still feeling a comforting hand on his shoulder, Ezra looked into the set of gentle eyes of the woman beside him. "Thanks, Sabine. I'll be sure to have a proper talk with her about it one day." He told her with a warm smile.

"Let's hope that day comes sooner rather than later." Sabine smiled back, settling into her own seat again. "I can't wait until the spectres are back together and saving the galaxy once again."

"Me too." Ezra agreed.

"Hey Barkeep, get us another round!"

"…wait does the galaxy even need saving anymo-"

"Shut up, Ezra."

* * *

 **A/N: Can I just say that I did not expect to have to do so much research for this one chapter. I learned way more about the Star Wars universe in three days than I've known for the past twenty years. At one point I was going to have Ezra say he visited _half_ of the Empire's systems, only to look up an actual list and find that it was a freaking huge amount of planets. So yeah, had to cut that out. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and got something out of it. Hopefully my plan worked an you are just dying to know what happened to the Spectres all those years ago. Definitely more to come. This honestly could become a long one (~60k) with my current outline. I'll try my best to see it through to the end... because honestly I'd rather you all not have a bad impression of me especially when I plan on sharing one of my actual, non-fanfic, original web-novels that I'm working on. Only 3 chapters in that one right now, but part of the reason I'm writing this Rebels fic is to warm up my writing skills and get into a better groove with that story. ANYWAY, that's all still down the road, see ya for now.**


	2. The Next Step

**A/N: Finally finished this chapter. Would have been done a week earlier but I put in full hours last week at work on top of programming job apps and programming projects for potential employers who responded. BUT... it is here, and I'm pretty proud of this one. Also got quite a few follows since my first chapter so I'm pretty pumped. Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Ezra and Sabine continued to talk for hours, sharing their best stories from the past four years as well as reminiscing of their time together all those years ago. At one point Ezra even got dragged into singing with a random troop because his rebel jacket coincidentally happened to match theirs. Sabine cheered him along of course, all the while battling to keep a straight face while Ezra tried to mouth words just to look like he was singing along. Eventually though, night had come and the atmosphere in the cantina settled down to a peaceful lull.

"I wonder if this will be the last of these energetic celebrations?" Sabine asked before taking a sip of the hot tea she had ordered for her and Ezra.

"Well they have to end at some point," Ezra said. "It's kind of sad to think about though. Struggling for years to defeat the Empire, yet the celebrations won't even make a drop in the bucket compared to that amount of time."

"But that's not why we did it, Ezra. We fought because we believed in a better life. One that existed outside of the Empire's control."

"Yeah, I get it Sabine. I think I'm just anxious about what happens next. I've spent my entire adult life fighting… I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to be doing now."

Sabine tried to think of a good answer, but found it difficult because she had also been having those same thoughts recently. War was also the only thing she had known, but now the Empire was gone, and her home world as well had managed to settle its own disputes without her. For the first time in her life, Sabine had no enemy to fight. So, what was next?

Sabine sighed at her loss of an answer. "I'm not sure, Ezra. What do people like us normally do after the end of a huge war?"

"I, dunno. Go home? Get married?" Ezra said, completely innocent of the implication while also missing the sight of the unmarried girl next to him choke on her tea.

"Wha… where did you get that idea?" Sabine asked frantically while scrambling to wipe the chest of her armor clean of her drink. Why would Ezra say that to _her_?

"A lot of the guys on the star cruiser talked about it. Seemed like almost all of them had girls back home or even in the rebellion that they planned to settle down with."

"Oh… that's good." Sabine replied, a little more at ease realizing that Ezra wasn't dumping a proposal on her at a bar after four years of no contact. "I mean, that is pretty common. Now that I remember I actually had a few men hit on me in the extraction unit." She was being modest… it was _much_ more than a few.

"Oh yeah? Any of them good enough to settle down with? I'm looking!" Ezra joked.

"No. I'm not the type to get into a relationship while there's a war going on," Sabine tried to smile, but her next words were too difficult to manage it. "It was hard enough to focus on my work knowing you and everyone else were out there. I'd even request an update on your status every now and then… just to make sure you were alive."

Sabine turned her gaze away. Not from embarrassment as Ezra had figured, but from the tinge of guilt she felt remembering that Ezra had occupied her thoughts less and less as each year went by.

"Say… Ezra," Sabine continued. "Did you think about us a lot? I mean, did you ever wonder if… we were okay?"

Ezra looked at her, confused. "Of course, Sabine. That should be obvious."

"Well, yeah but… what about as time went by? Because… Ezra, I have to tell you-"

"You don't have to say anything, Sabine," Ezra stopped her. "The important thing is that we're all still family. That hasn't changed and it never will—no matter how long we are apart."

Again, Sabine found herself put at ease by Ezra's smile. But it wasn't just his smile, Sabine realized. His words were warm, and full of kindness and wisdom. It was a side of Ezra she wasn't used to. She was growing fond of it though, and there was something else—a feeling that she wanted to see it a lot more. She didn't completely understand it, but the thought itself pushed her to ask a question that had been looming in her mind for the past few hours.

"Sabine…?" Ezra asked, worried at the girl's irregular pause in the conversation. Sabine was fully aware, however, and calmly proceeded.

"Ezra… I have to ask. What's going to happen after we leave this place?" The Mandalorian girl asked, looking up into the kind, gleaming eyes of the Lothalian boy before her.

"I… I don't know. I've actually been wondering about that myself." He answered back to her.

The two continued to look into each other's eyes, a feeling of longing filling them with each passing second. But it wasn't the longing of two lovers as anyone who saw them might assume, but something more which neither of them could quite put into words. But even if they did not understand, their hearts had already decided—that after years of standing by each others side, they didn't want to be without the person in front of them for another moment.

And then the two of them smiled. Not sweetly, but with confidence… as though they had both reached the same conclusion as to what came next.

* * *

"Bridger, can you hurry it up?" The imposing Mandalorian shouted, helmet equipped and all.

"Hey, do you want me to a good deal or not?" The Lothalian bit back.

The shouting was warranted as the two were no longer inside the quiet cantina, but rather standing in the city's bustling hangar where the two had landed their respective star-crafts. Sabine was unloading her few belongings from the small rebellion fighter she had used to travel here, while Ezra was in the middle of trading his own ship with an Ithorian's.

"My friend, you see this fighter? How could you use anything else do defend your freighters with?" Ezra said, exaggerating his gestures to try and highlight his own starfighter's features to the Ithorian. "Sure, the Empire is gone, but that only means easier deliveries to the core planets. What about here in the outer rim?"

The Ithorian grunted in his home language, which Sabine was surprised to see Ezra understand. Even with her skill for learning languages, she wasn't familiar with Ithorese.

Ezra continued his sales pitch. "Look, we both know that these outer systems are where men like us make our best… profits, but what are you gonna a do when even more pirates show up because of the Empire's absence? That's why I'm getting out of the game and need to get rid of this fighter. All I'm asking is for one of your freighters."

The Ithorian grunted again, rubbing the back of his neck in an unsure fashion. Unfortunately for him, Ezra had been developing his silver tongue for years, all thanks to his past run-ins with the best pirate he knew, Hondo.

"See here, friend. You've been using these six freighters and two fighters to handle your deliveries, right? But I see through your disguise… it's impossible to have enough goods to fill six freighters out here, which means you've been splitting them up amongst the ships so you can minimize loss in case one gets taken."

Ezra noticed a much more nervous look in the Ithorian's expression. He had hit the nail on the head.

"And pirates… when they see that many freighters guarded by two measly fighters that don't even have rear facing cannons? Well, they're gonna realize it too. _But_ … when they see this fighter protecting your ships—a Kom'rk-class, Mandalorian made starfighter with _two_ rear cannons? They're gonna think twice about trying to lift your cargo."

The Ithorian replied with more odd throat sounds, but it seemed clear to Sabine that the creature had been convinced by Ezra's reasoning. Sounding cheery, the Ithorian gave Ezra a firm pat on the back and pointed to one of his freighters before them. Looking at it, Sabine was far from impressed. It was the junkiest looking one in the bunch, as if it was a single blaster away from falling apart. Sabine looked to Ezra, trying to send a signal that she would rather they both squeeze into the rebel fighter together than fly in this thing. Her worries were put to rest however as Ezra challenged the negotiation without a second's hesitation.

"Oh, friend! Surely you wouldn't disrespect a fellow merchant with a ship such as this? And here I thought you were a man of honesty and integrity."

The Ithorian pondered for a moment, his reputation suddenly at stake. Even though Ezra was only putting on the mask of a sly and cunning merchant, he was correct that the trade wasn't fair, and he also knew that any outer-rim supplier worth his weight wouldn't want even a rumor of his dishonesty to be spread between the merchant's circles. It was a mistake that would now cost him _more_ than Ezra's ship was worth, and Ezra knew this.

With a defensive grunt, the Ithorian presented another ship which Ezra estimated to be his third best one. It was a modified YT-1930 transport—a variant of the popular YT-1300 which happened to be the same model the famous Millennium Falcon belonged to.

Ezra struggled to contain his child-like excitement as he finished his negotiations with the Ithorian. Class 1 hyperdrive? Check. Full-rotation laser cannon? Check. Escape pods? Double check. And three cabins, two cargo rooms, and a lounge to tie it all together. Hondo would be proud.

With a final handshake, the deal was sealed. And just in time as Sabine showed up with the last of her belongings.

"I've got to hand it to you, Ezra. You really came through with this deal."

"What can I say? You learn a thing or two after four years in the outer rim." Ezra flaunted.

Sabine let out a sarcastic sigh, thankful that her helmet was hiding the stupid smile on her face. "Alright Bridger don't get cocky. Just help me get this stuff onto the ship already."

Ezra gave his own exaggerated huff before obliging Sabine's command. "So, what about that rebel fighter you brought? Are you gonna take it back or what?"

"I'm leaving it here. I called in a favor from one of my friends in the rebellion and they are going to pick it up."

"Wow, our own Sabine Wren actually made some friends that weren't thermal detonators- WHOA!" Ezra shouted as he barely managed to duck under the can of spray paint that Sabine had aimed at his face.

"Shut up," Sabine chuckled before the two entered their new freighter.

"Woah." Ezra and Sabine both exclaimed at the interior. It was nice, even if it was a bit smaller than the ship they were used to living in all those years ago. The loading ramp had brought them to the heart of the ship. From there it branched left and right into two curved hallways which together made up the circular frame of the ship. The lounge area was immediately visible in the right hall, with a couch, holo table, and workbench all ready to be enjoyed. At the end of the hall, Sabine and Ezra, found one of the large cargo bays to leave their stuff in until they could properly settle in.

"This place is great!" Ezra shouted with excitement as he ran on ahead of Sabine. At the very front of the ship Ezra found the cock pit. It resembled the Ghost's quite a bit. Two seats at the front for the pilot and co-pilot, and two others near the back with their own secondary diagnostics terminals.

"This takes me back." Sabine appeared from behind Ezra, her helmet no longer hiding her delicate expression. It had been years since she had been on a ship like this, but standing there inside the cockpit with Ezra made it feel like it had only been yesterday. It even felt as though Hera could come in at any moment and scold Ezra about not sitting in her seat without permission. But, of course, this wasn't the Ghost, and Hera wasn't here.

Shaking her head, Sabine pushed her thoughts of the past aside. Now was not the time to get sentimental. She was never one for wallowing in her emotions, and she wasn't about to start now. And there was sure-as-sod no way she was going to let Ezra be the emotionally mature one out of them. It was one of the bigger changes she'd noticed in him since their reunion. Sure, there were moments in their conversation when his dorky humor showed up, but there were also other moments where she expected Ezra to deliver one of his classic quips only to be blindsided by a very mature and sincere response from him. In the span of their separation, Ezra had grown up considerably. And that thought left Sabine to wonder if she herself had changed in ways that only Ezra could see.

"So, where are we going first?" Ezra asked, jolting Sabine out of her thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh… well, it might be a good start to go back to either Lothal or Mandalore, right?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. It would be nice to visit Lothal without being undercover for once," Ezra said, a reminder to Sabine that Lothal was one of the planets he would regularly journey to during the past four years.

"Alright, so Lothal then," Sabine declared. In truth, however, she would much rather go to Mandalore. The last time she had been there was almost two years ago to witness the signing of the peace treaty that ended the Mandalorian civil war. And even then, she didn't stay long—immediately leaving the next day to continue her part in the rebellion. But Sabine felt that—being the oldest of the two—she shouldn't act selfishly, otherwise this plan to travel together might not work out. Unbeknownst to her though, the clever Lothalian saw right through her guise.

"Actually, I think I'd like to go to Mandalore first," Ezra started. "I mean, it's been a long time since I've been there. And now that there's no more fighting going on, it's a prime opportunity to experience your home-world's culture."

Sabine threw Ezra a smirking look with crossed arms and tilted hips. "Culture, is it? Many would say that war _is_ our culture."

"Well… either way, I hope you can _properly_ educate me on the subject while we're there," Ezra said with a sly smile.

Sabine rolled her eyes playfully and bit her lower lip in an effort keep from showing another one of those stupid smiles she had been making lately. "Alright, Bridger. If that's what you want, I'll be happy to show you _everything_ we have to offer."

"Sounds good. Can't wait."

Despite her hard-fought battle, Sabine smiled again at the boy in front of her. Ezra had bested her once again, leading herself to believe she might actually lose in the contest of maturity and thoughtfulness she had imagined between them. Secretly, though, she was grateful for this loss because now she was going to Mandalore—and Ezra was going to be there right by her side. For years, Sabine had played out the scene of returning home in a peaceful galaxy to herself plenty of times, and—admittedly—it never involved Ezra going with her. But now that he _was_ coming along, Sabine felt assured that her return home was going to be something to remember.

Ezra and Sabine finished loading up the rest of their belongings onto the new freighter, and finally the time came to take off to Mandalore. Sabine took her seat in the pilot's chair while Ezra manned the co-pilot's. At no point had they discussed who was going to fly, but the resulting assignment seemed natural to both of them. Sabine gave Ezra a clever look, noticing him effortlessly interact with all the switches and dials necessary for their departure. Turning her attention back, Sabine made the necessary adjustments to her own dashboard as well. With a final turn of the ignition knob, the boisterous whirr of the engines sounded from the back of the ship. Ready to leave, Sabine leaned in near the ship's microphone and activated it.

"Attention hangar-control, this is the gray-colored YT-1390 at the back of the hangar, are we clear to depart, over."

" _That's a negative YT. We'll need your freighter's call-sign for our ledger before we can let you take off,_ " the controller responded.

Caught off guard, Sabine quickly looked to Ezra, gesturing him to give her the call-sign for the ship he had just bartered for. To her annoyance though, Ezra only shrugged back at her, which Sabine responded to with a roll of the eyes,

" _Pilot, I'm gonna need that call-sign-_ "

"Yeah, uh… just give us a moment!" Sabine interrupted before placing her hand over the microphone to whisper angrily at Ezra.

"~How could you forget the call-sign~!"

"~Well excuse me for not being experienced with freighter REGISTRY~!"

"~What are we supposed to do now? The guy you traded with already left~!"

"~Just make one up~!"

Sabine paused, staring daggers at Ezra whom was waiting with bated breath to see what she would do.

" _Pilot-?_ "

"Yes, this is the… Second… Dawn," Sabine shook her head, baffled at the random title she pulled out of her ass.

" _Second Dawn, eh?_ " The controller repeated back followed by the sound of a few rustling papers. " _Oh-Kay, you are clear for departure._ "

"Copy that, control," Sabine finished, ending the call with a sigh of relief.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked." Ezra admired.

"Dumb luck I guess," Sabine replied as she flipped a few more switches and eased onto the lifting throttle. "It would have taken us another hour to register this thing with a new call-sign."

Pushing onto the lifting throttle a bit more, the ship began to ascend high into the night sky. Ezra and Sabine could now see the entirety of the desert-city of Mos Eisley before them.

"Hope I never have to come back here again," Ezra muttered.

Curious, Ezra reached into his jacket's inner pocket where he remembered putting away the title for his new freighter. Studying it carefully, he realized something.

"Hey, Sabine."

"What?" She answered, focused on turning the ship towards their desired route.

"I found the ship's old call-sign…"

Ezra watched as Sabine slowly turned to him, where he had no choice but to take in the enormously disappointed expression she directed at him.

Turning her attention back to the ship, Sabine readied for their full throttle boost out of the atmosphere, but not before delivering a phrase she figured she would be saying a lot over the course of their journey together.

"Shut up, Ezra."

The aforementioned Lothalian only replied with a guilty smile before Sabine punched the throttle, sending them far outside the atmosphere of Tatooine. Neither of them knew what to expect from now on as the star-riddled void of space became the only view before them, but one thing was certain. They were both glad the other was there, and they were excited for the new adventures they would share together aboard their newly christened Second Dawn.


	3. Two Fools

**[Important announcement]**

 **You can now read this story on my personal website, daultonfics, for FREE with NO ADS AND enjoy exclusive story-art made especially for each chapter. Just go to the site and select _Star Wars Rebels: Second Dawn_ in the fanfic-list for access. I'll continue to release new chapters on FF as well and would LOVE to hear your comments on what you think of the story so far! Also, feel free to check out the original story on my site as well, and if you like it please subscribe to my twitter account ddaulton94 to receive updates on new chapter releases. Thanks!**

* * *

"Alright, hyperspace entry successful," Sabine announced while double checking some of the instrument readings. "With a second jump near Denon to adjust our coordinates, we should arrive at Mandalore in about eighteen hours."

Ezra gave a long sigh, sitting back in his chair and taking in blue maw of hyperspace that swept past the cockpit's window with bewildering speed. "Man, I sure hope that holo table is functioning. I didn't bring much with me to help pass the time."

"You can pass the time by helping me make sure this ship is functioning. Who knows when was the last time some of these systems were tested?"

"C'mon, Sabine, I'm sure she's fine. An outer-rim merchant like that wouldn't neglect to take care of a ship like this."

Sabine threw Ezra a teasing look. "You're already calling it a 'she'?"

"Well yeah," Ezra said as he reclined his seat and put his feet up on the dash to get more comfortable. "I mean, it is much easier to say than that mouthful of a name you gave it. Second Dawn, was it?"

Sabine rolled her eyes. "Oh, do not even start. If you had just remembered to learn the old call-sign I wouldn't have had to make one up."

"Yeah, I get it. It's my fault." Ezra threw his hands up in defense. "But you could have thought of a better name. I mean, Second Dawn? Are we part of a convoy? Where's the First Dawn?"

Sabine didn't respond as she could see Ezra trying his hardest to keep a straight face—the corner of his mouth just barely twitching. He was teasing her again as he had been doing little by little ever since their reunion. And while it was sometimes annoying she didn't completely hate it—which seemed a bit strange as she remembered loathing this kind of behavior in those first couple of years they knew each other. Probably because she only saw him as an annoying kid, she figured. It wasn't until he helped Kanan with her Darksaber training that her opinion of Ezra changed significantly. It was there that she began to see him as an equal, or perhaps even more. And then there was everything afterwards. Rescuing her father, defeating Grand Admiral Thrawn, and of course there was their last mission before the Ghost crew officially disbanded. He had become someone she could completely rely on, and along the way his joking attitude had become tolerable and sometimes even charming to her.

"Uh, sorry… I actually do think it's a good name." Ezra muttered, breaking the long pause Sabine had created in their conversation.

"Hmm? Oh, no it's not that. I was just thinking about something." Sabine tried to assure him after snapping out of her thoughts. She then smiled, realizing how worried Ezra was about being annoying to her.

"Anything important that I should know?" Ezra asked flatly, deciding to drop the humor for now.

"Mmm… yeah, you could say it's important. But it's not really something I can share." Sabine answered, fighting her embarrassment at the idea of revealing that she was thinking of how much she admired him.

"Well then, I can go ahead and get started on some system diagnostics. Which one do you want me to work on first?"

Sabine smiled at Ezra, pleased by his genuineness. "We'll start with the weapons and shielding. Even if the Empire is gone, open space is still a dangerous place."

"You got it."

For the next hour Sabine manned the cockpit, systematically testing the weapon and shield operations while Ezra moved throughout the ship, observing and relaying every important detail of their performance back to Sabine. Everything checked out and for the next couple of hours they continued to do the same for all the other important systems their ship was outfitted with. To Sabine's surprise no system showed a need for repair or replacement. Ezra had done very well with this trade.

"Oh man. I. Am. Beat." Ezra huffed as he tackled one end of the sofa, the other of which Sabine was sitting.

The two had moved to the ship's lounge, where Sabine had prepared some tea and ration bars on the small table before them as a reward for Ezra's hard work. Trying to keep as much of himself on the sofa as possible, Ezra ungracefully stretched out for a helping, but soon ended up rolling off with a loud thud onto the hard, metal floor.

"How ever did someone like you successfully perform recon for four years?" Sabine asked with a teasing tone of pity.

"Id wasm'd eashy, Sabime." Ezra replied, his mouth muffled by the metal floor he was laying face down on. The entire display made it hard for Sabine to suppress a giggle.

"Are you bunking down there tonight?"

Ezra adjusted his head so that he was no longer kissing the floor, but still made no effort to pick himself up.

"I just might be."

"Well, the cabins are just down the hall. Come on, I'll help you over there.

Moving over to Ezra, Sabine helped him to his feet, but before she could throw his arm around herself to support him, he pulled away.

"It's fine Sabinnnnnnnn-eaaaaaaaawwwwww" Ezra started before being interrupted by his own yawn. "I can manage."

Taking a spare tray, Ezra placed onto it a portion of the food Sabine had gone to the trouble of preparing before heading over to the cabins.

"Thanks for the food. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright. Sleep well." Sabine answered softly, watching Ezra disappear beyond the curve of the ship's hall.

Hearing Ezra open one of the cabin doors, Sabine figured it was time for her to turn in as well, though maybe she would wait a bit until it was certain that he was completely settled in. If there was one situation Sabine disliked, it was saying goodbye to someone and then running into them a minute later. Her suspicion seemed validated too as she heard the cabin door open a second time, but then it did so immediately a third time, which left Sabine puzzled at what Ezra was up to until his tired sounding voice called out to her.

"Uhh… Sabine."

Springing up from her seat, Sabine cantered down the hall and caught up with Ezra. He was standing in the doorway of the leftmost cabin, tray still in hand, while the other two cabins beside him had their doors opened as well, seemingly explaining the overabundance of door-opening noises.

"What is it, Ezra?"

"Well, uh… the beds…"

Still puzzled, Sabine peeked into the cabin Ezra was looking into and noticed a bunk bed for two people built into its rear wall.

"Well, it doesn't matter which one you pick," Sabine said, unsure of the problem posed by the bunk beds. "I'll just take one in this… next… room?"

Sabine's words trailed into a whisper as she looked inside the next cabin she was talking about. One glaring detail stood out, and upon noticing it she immediately connected the dots behind Ezra's reaction. There were no beds in this room.

Her eyes wide, Sabine quickly went to look inside the third cabin—though from gauging Ezra's reaction, it was clear what she would find. No beds here either.

"Seems like they stripped the furnishings from these two for extra storage." Ezra commented, peeking in from behind Sabine.

"Well, I guess one of us will just sleep on the sofa in the lounge."

"Yeah right," Ezra responded, munching on one of the ration bars from his food tray. "That thing isn't wide enough to sleep on. I'll just roll off again"

"Okay then… we can take one of these mattresses out and put it in the next room."

Sabine went in, attempting to lift out the bottom mattress with several hard tugs but to no avail. She didn't know why or how, but the thing was completely imbedded into the bunk.

"Y'know, maybe I'll try sleeping in the lounge after all," Ezra tried to hide his panicked tone. His efforts were fruitless however as Sabine noticed and saw an opportunity to finally best Ezra in her one-sided maturity contest with him.

"No, you said it yourself, the sofa isn't wide enough to sleep on," Sabine objected, carefully preparing to say her next words with as carefree an attitude as she could manage. "We can just bunk here together. I mean… it's only one night."

The notion of bunking with Ezra caused Sabine some anxiousness, but she figured that it would be worth it to look like the mature one who was indifferent to the obviously scandalous sleeping arrangement.

Ezra rubbed the back of his head, a hesitant look in his eyes. "Well… if you're fine with it then I'll get my things. But really, Sabine… you should be more mindful of these situations."

Ezra shuffled his stance awkwardly, averting his gaze.

"I mean, you are a beautiful woman. You shouldn't be so careless about saying things like that to us guys."

Ezra promptly left the room to gather his belongings from the storage bay, leaving Sabine standing alone with a dumbstruck look on her face. Her plan had completely backfired. He was supposed to be flustered by her suggestion, so why was she the one who was left feeling embarrassed?

"Beautiful…?" Sabine whispered the word Ezra had used to describe herself.

Wait a minute. This had to be a trick. Another way of teasing her again.

"Well played, Bridger." Sabine cursed herself for letting her guard down again, but she was still determined to come out on top before the night was over. Then suddenly an idea came to her.

Sabine hustled out of the room and down the ship's hallway to get her belongings, along the way passing Ezra who was heading back with his own stuff in hand.

"Sabine-"

"You go ahead and get settled, Ezra. I feel like taking a shower first."

Sabine continued her canter down the hall, leaving no time for Ezra to respond. Jubilantly she came upon one of her boxes and brought it with her into the ship's bathing room.

Sabine undressed from her armor and stepped into the shower, hastily scrubbing herself all over. She had to make sure Ezra wouldn't be asleep by the time she finished. Her new plan would surely get her desired reaction out of Ezra, but only if he was still awake.

All cleaned up, Sabine shut off the shower and dried herself off with a towel that was in the box she brought in. Also inside the box laid a somewhat scanty set of workout tops and briefs that she wore regularly when exercising. Sabine put a set on and checked their fit in the mirror. The top started just under her collar and ended a few inches above her navel, while the briefs perfectly defined her hips and stopped shortly down her thigh. To finish her plan off, Sabine wrapped herself in the towel to give the illusion that she was bare underneath it. And with a clever placement of her hands over her top's shoulder straps, it looked pretty convincing. Now all that was left was to walk into the room while Ezra was awake, see his embarrassed reaction before "nonchalantly" revealing her clothes, and tease him for thinking she would actually be naked. It was foolproof.

Satisfied with her plan Sabine left the bathroom and walked sneakily over to the cabin she and Ezra would be sharing for the night, keeping an eye out in case he was wandering the ship. He was nowhere to be found however, and a few muffled sounds from behind the cabin's closed door confirmed to Sabine that he was inside.

Her shoulders shaking with excitement, Sabine focused on calming herself before opening the door. She needed to sell Ezra an indifferent attitude. It was his turn to feel like a kid.

"Get ready, Bridger." Sabine whispered confidently to herself.

Unable to wait any longer Sabine slammed her palm onto the door's switch, where it opened with a loud whoosh.

"Hey, Ezra. Are you still awak- OH MY GOD!"

In the middle of her screaming, Sabine realized that she didn't really think about what would be on the other side of the cabin door. Maybe Ezra would be sitting on his bed, taking off his boots. Maybe he would be knelt on the ground, unpacking some stuff from his luggage. But the last thing… the LAST thing she thought he would be doing is bending down with his bare ass facing the doorway to put on his lounging pants.

"Sabine! What the hell!?"

Ezra tripped over his pants, trying to get a look at the girl who so rudely barged in on him changing. Sabine had already run for it, however. Not even having a chance to put her plan into action.

Running down the hall, Sabine jumped into the bathroom once again—promptly locking its door behind her.

Sabine leaned both her hands out onto the bathroom's sink, getting a close look at herself in the mirror above it. Her expression was blank, and her breathing was heavy and staggered—though whether it was due to sprinting down the ship's hall or a reaction to what she saw, Sabine didn't know for sure. Then the image of Ezra's bare ass flashed in her head again, leading her to slap both her hands onto her face and scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

Ezra and Sabine sat silently in lounge once again, both sitting on opposite ends of the same sofa they had been joking on just minutes ago. Both were fully clothed. Ezra had his full lounging wear on, and Sabine had opted to put on her own, more modest looking sleepwear. Neither of them dared to look at the other, both choosing instead to stare at the opposite wall of the ship. The expressions on their faces were unenthusiastic to say the least. Sabine had a grave look in her eyes, as if she would never again know what happiness was, while Ezra had a much more befuddled look on his face—the face of someone who was now questioning everything they had ever known.

The silence continued, though every now and then Ezra would lean a bit into Sabine's direction as if to say something only to turn back to same piece of wall he had been occupying his attention with since they both sat down. Finally, though, he found the courage to speak.

"Who takes a two-minute shower?"

Sabine turned to Ezra with a disbelieving look on her face.

"I mean… I don't think this is my fault at all…"

"Oh really, Ezra? I have a question. Who doesn't lock the door when they're changing!?"

"You were in the shower! Or you were supposed to be in there. But apparently you've evolved into some super-person who only needs a micro-amount of shower time to clean yourself!"

"All you had to do was lock the door!"

"Well all you had to do was knock!"

"Why would I knock on the door of the room I'm staying in!?"

"Because I'm staying in there too!"

"So, LOCK THE DOOR!"

"You were supposed to be IN. THE. SHOWER!"

The two temporary roommates were now in each other's faces, both feeling the warmth of the other's raging breath fall onto their face. Soon neither was focused on the argument, but rather on how noticeably close their faces were to each other. Sabine felt a rising pressure in her chest that didn't seem to make sense. Her years of experience arguing with Ezra was telling her to turn away like she always had, yet suddenly there was a fuzzy, unfamiliar sensation in her head telling her to stay put—so she did. There was no time for her to dwell on her decision, however, as Ezra pulled himself away first.

"Okay, so maybe we both messed up," Ezra said, visibly distant. "Look, I'll just sleep in the co-pilot's seat for tonight. It's pretty comfortable and it'll make it easier to perform the second hyperspace jump anyway."

"Ezra, you don't have to-"

"It's fine, Sabine. Just… have a good night."

With that, Ezra walked down the hall and disappeared behind the cockpit's door. Sabine remained alone on the lounge sofa, feeling guilty about the whole thing. She knew the entire ordeal was pretty much her fault. All she had to do was apologize, but instead she antagonized Ezra like an obnoxious child.

"I'm such an idiot…"

Sabine left the sofa and started heading back to her cabin. She lingered for a few moments in front of the closed door leading to the cockpit but decided to leave it alone for now. Was Ezra actually mad at her? Or was this just his way of making sure they didn't end up having a serious fight? Sabine sighed, clueless to the answer as she continued on. In that moment she truly regretted her childish plan to seem like the mature one. If nothing else, this outcome proved that she was anything but.

Sabine opened the cabin door, an air of loneliness dwelling inside. Now that she thought about it, it would have been exciting to spend their first reunited night together in the same room. Though they covered a lot of ground in the conversations at the bar, there was still so much more she wanted to talk about with Ezra, and the thought of drifting asleep while talking to each other sounded fun. But now it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

With nothing else to do, Sabine took her spot in the bottom bunk. She only realized now but it was actually quite chilly onboard the ship, which made it a bit more pleasurable when she pulled the blankets up over herself.

As she lay in bed, her thoughts drifted back to Ezra. She'd be sure to properly apologize tomorrow and get rid of this unnecessary tension. He probably wasn't even upset, and instead was only trying to giver her some space. The idea made Sabine feel guilty again, but it didn't compare to the level she felt after realizing he was sleeping in the cold of the cockpit without any kind of blanket. And she was also sure that she didn't see him wearing any kind of socks either.

"He must be freezing…"

Without hesitation Sabine got out of her bed and stripped the spare bunk of it's blanket and pillow to give to Ezra. She then paused for a moment, looking at her own blanket and pillow sprawled out on her bed before making a bold decision.

Meanwhile, in the ship's cockpit, Ezra sat relaxed in the co-pilot's seat with his feet on the dashboard. He watched as the blue tunnel of hyperspace continue to sweep past the ship until his focus was interrupted by the sound of the cockpit's door opening behind him. A moment later he felt something soft but weighty land on his lap. Looking at it, Ezra saw that it was a blanket and pillow, and before he could even look behind him Sabine came into view from the corner of his eye as she took her own spot in the pilot's seat.

"These things recline?"

"…uh, yeah."

Sabine fiddled with the different levers at the base of the seat before finding the one to recline it. After finding a comfortable height, Sabine procured her own blanket and pillow, and nestled herself into the seat so that she was facing Ezra. The two of them locked eyes for a moment, and though neither spoke, both understood and accepted the silent apology the other was giving them.

After exchanging a mutual smile, Ezra decided it was time for him to get settled into his own seat as well. With a press of a few button on the dashboard, he shut off the cockpit's interior lights and dimmed the front window. Though the room was now dark, Ezra could tell that Sabine was still watching him from the reflection of the dashboard's illuminated buttons in her eyes. Sabine noticed the same thing of Ezra's eyes as well as he settled in with the blanket and pillow she had brought him. Soon the two of them were comfortably laid in their respective seats, facing each other with nothing but the soft sound of their breathing and the low hum of the ship's engine to accompany them.

Ezra was the first to close his eyes to get some rest, but not before offering his teammate a softly spoken "goodnight," which she returned.

Sabine, however, kept her gaze fixed on Ezra. And as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she was barely able to make out his sleeping face. Noticing his soft breaths, Sabine's thoughts went back to that moment during the argument when their faces came close together. That feeling she had. The one that kept her from turning away from him. Could it be?

Sabine wasn't stupid. She understood the general idea of being attracted to someone. But there was the small matter of her never really having any experience with it. There was always something going on. War. Missions. Duty. Sabine had always put these things above anything else, so when the time came and a man asked her out, she always rejected them without a second thought. But now the war was over. The missions were over. And there was no duty to attend to. Is that why these feelings were suddenly coming up? Because now there was time to think about them? Or… was it because it's Ezra?

"…"

The question lingered in Sabine's mind as she traced the curve of his face with her eyes. She just didn't know the answer right now. But if she was developing an attraction towards Ezra, she had to make sure it was real and not some fleeting crush that would be gone soon.

For another minute Sabine lay there with her eyes open, though her focus wasn't fixed on anything and her mind was nearly blank.

Make sure it's real.

Her mind echoed.

Make sure…

The thought trailed one last time before her eyes finally fell closed and a deep sleep took her.


	4. Unexpected News

**Author Note:** Just a reminder that you can read this chapter on my website daultonfics[.com], where I also draw crappy images for chapters and insert them in the story for your enjoyment. This particular chapter had **three** images created for it, two of which are pretty hilarious I think! As always, whether you love or hate the story, I'd love your feedback on how you feel it is turning out! Also, shout-outs to rebels fanfic author **SweetSinger2010** , whose week old fic _**After Everything**_ is breaking records in this community. Just give me time Singer, I'll beat you with this fic one day!

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

"Rise and shine, Sabine." Ezra's voice called out, though his phrasing was a bit unsuitable as there was no shine from any sun when it came to hyperspace travel. Still, it certainly felt like morning as the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee floated into Sabine's nose, perking her up enough to open her eyes.

Sabine's vision was greeted with an outstretched hand holding a mug of the coffee she now adamantly desired. Moving her gaze upwards, she found Ezra's smiling expression directed right at her, and suddenly she was reminded of the matter she had been thinking about last night.

Make sure its real.

Managing to get her hand out from under the blanket, Sabine took the mug Ezra offered her with a quick "Thanks" before taking a careful sip of the delicious drink. Mmmmmm. If this is what a morning with Ezra was like now, then maybe her evaluation of her feelings wouldn't need to last too long.

"Oh, hey. I think you got a message?" Ezra mentioned.

"Through the ship's link?"

"No. A Holocomm in one of your boxes." Ezra procured the item in question and handed it off to Sabine. "Seems like it got received when I came out of hyperspace to make the second jump."

"You made the second jump without waking me up? Impressive."

Ezra threw her a confused look. "What are you talking about? Didn't you tell me to 'make sure' the coordinates were right?"

"Hmm?" Sabine looked at him quizzically, canceling the sip of coffee she was about to take.

"Well I thought I could do it without waking you. But when I came out of hyperspace I could hear you mumbling at me to 'make sure it was right, make sure'."

Sabine sat very still, trying her best to hide her nervousness as the guy she learned she may have feelings for repeated the very instruction she had given herself to keep things from getting needlessly complicated. Well, it was almost the same instruction. Thankfully the last word was lost in translation leading Ezra to believe she was giving him piloting instructions.

"Mmm, yeah I think I remember now." Sabine awkwardly nodded her head, looking over to the instrument display showing the designated coordinates. "Aaaaaand it looks like you listened. Good job, Bridger. Way to go." Still nodding, Sabine averted her eyes from Ezra's as she took a large gulp of coffee to ease her discomfort.

Ezra gave a suspicious look but quickly shook his head free of it. "Yeah, so, we'll be there in a few more hours." Ezra took his seat in the co-pilot's chair. "I think we both overslept quite a bit."

Sabine gave a gentle laugh. "Well, I'm sure the lack of needing to be ready to fight the Empire had something to do with that." Sabine set her coffee aside and started to check out her Holocomm that Ezra had brought her. Sure enough, the display showed that there was a new message queued for playback.

"Let's see who it is."

Readying herself, Sabine started the message, prompting the device to project a hologram of the message's sender over itself. It was Sabine's mother, standing firm with her hands held behind her as she seemed to always do.

"Sabine. Your presence is required immediately on Mandalore as a member of clan Wren. This matter is of the utmost urgency."

Sabine immediately felt uneasy and looked worriedly over to Ezra whom by the look on his face was having similar thoughts. He gave her a comforting nod though, signifying that no matter the trouble, he'd be there to help her through it.

"Your brother is getting married. To a member of the Soldrin clan. You may remember them as one of our clan's larger enemies during the war, but seeing as the second anniversary of the treaty is coming upon us, both clans have decided—with the permission of Tristan and his bride-to-be—that a marital union between the firstborns of clans Wren and Soldrin is the perfect maneuver to fortify all of Mandalore's confidence in this treaty and improve relations between the previously warring sides."

Sabine and Ezra exchanged glances once again, this time both surprised.

"The ceremony will take place in twelve days, but we will need you to be present for the standard, pre-celebratory events in the days following up to it so plan your arrival to Sundari accordingly. And also…"

"…"

"…congratulations on the rebellion's victory over the Empire. I've been waiting a long time to see our family together outside a time of war. It will be good to see you when you arrive. Safe travels, my daughter."

Sabine's mother finished her message with a courteous bow before her hologram figure dissipated from view.

"Wow, Sabine. Your brother is getting married!" Ezra cheered.

Sabine didn't respond though. She sat silent as her gaze remained fixed on where the image of her mother had been until a moment ago—the last bit of her words ringing in Sabine's mind.

"Sabine?" Ezra nudged, jolting Sabine from her thoughts.

"Hmm? Yeah. That is big a surprise. I don't see the guy for two years and now he's engaged. I guess that thing you said about people getting married after wars is true." Sabine forced a laugh, trying to keep her emotions in check from the reality that she was finally coming home to a peaceful Mandalore. It had always been a dream of hers, and though she didn't realize it until now, it had been a dream of her mother as well.

"Marriage huh? This isn't gonna make things weird, is it?" Ezra wondered aloud, reigniting his crewmate's anxiousness concerning her personal revelation from last night.

"Wha- Why would things be weird?" Sabine asked as calmly as possible, finishing off with a calculated sip of coffee.

"I mean, we agreed to travel to Mandalore in the first place even though we didn't really have a plan on what we'd be doing. But now you've got Tristan's wedding to deal with. Will I just have to stay put somewhere while you go and attend all the wedding functions?"

"Oh. Well... I wish I could say it was my decision. Because then you _definitely_ wouldn't be invited..." Ezra failed to contain an abrupt laugh at Sabine's joke which she was quite proud of now. "But… it's probably up to Tristan or my Mother. But don't worry, I'm sure that with some input from me they won't invite you either." Sabine joked again, this time catching Ezra in the middle of drinking his coffee which he was now choking on from laughter.

"Damn it, Sabine," Ezra said through his laughter. "I'm drinking hot coffee over here!"

Sabine herself started to giggle at Ezra's clumsy display and was once again overcome with that curious, pleasant feeling she had been getting whenever he laughed or smiled around her. Well, perhaps it wasn't so curious anymore since last night, but it was pleasant nonetheless. However, a part of her still thought that this wasn't enough to settle the issue. But then a question arose in Sabine's mind… if this wasn't enough, then what would be?

Sabine kept her eyes fixed onto Ezra as he was distracted from wiping off the coffee splatter on his shirt. He had been wearing a jacket almost all of yesterday so Sabine didn't notice then, but Ezra had developed quite a bit of muscle since she last saw him. The short sleeves of his shirt were stretched and taught against his biceps, and the subtle protrusions of his chest and abs were barely visible through the wrinkles of his slim shirt. And then—as if the universe was playing off of the girl's desire—Ezra lifted the bottom of his shirt to help wipe himself off, consequently revealing his toned stomach to the intently focused girl beside him.

A hot sensation began to fill Sabine's stomach as she continued to watch her unsuspecting teammate. At first, she didn't think to much of it, but as the feeling began to travel further down she instantly shifted her gaze away from him trying to get ahold of herself. The warmth kept going lower however, and now the panicked Mandalorian considered escaping the cockpit before things got too hot down there. Her mental planning was interrupted, however, as Ezra called out to her.

"Uh, Sabine. You're spilling coffee all over yourself."

"What?"

Sabine glanced at her mug and then down at her lap. Sure enough, while she had been… "admiring" Ezra's assets, she lost focus on holding her coffee mug and tipped it towards herself, spilling it onto her stomach where it continued to flow down into her lap. Sabine's face became red with embarrassment, though not for the reason Ezra figured.

"Ugh! Damn it, Ezra!" Sabine yelled as she jumped up from her seat and booked it towards the ship's bathroom.

"How is this my fault!?"

"It just IS!" The flustered girl yelled one more time before disappearing out the door.

* * *

"Finally approaching Mandalore," Ezra mumbled to himself alone in the cockpit.

For the past few hours Sabine had been out of sight after cleaning herself up from the coffee fiasco. Though she assured Ezra that she wasn't mad at him in any way, he still had the suspicion that she was being distant. It was particularly noticeable when he ran into her a couple times while strolling the ship. She'd smile and give a quick "hey" but then continue on without any further discussion. Of course, after their little "making up" moment from last night, he did believe that she wasn't mad. But if that was true then what other reason could she have to avoid him?

Ezra knew better than to try to figure out Sabine. There was always more to her than he could learn, even when they were younger. The only thing he knew right now was that she had been painting in one of the empty cabins all this time. That was apparent from the sounds of her paint guns and the familiar odor coming from the room. Was she making another mural? Or maybe she was re-designing her armor patterns for the ten-billionth time? Well, either way she would have to pause and finally interact with him so they could land this ship.

Bracing himself, Ezra picked up the mic that was connected to all the speakers onboard the ship and spoke into it.

"Sabine, we're coming up on Mandalore. I need you in here."

"Coming!" Sabine's voice sounded through the same speakers, reminding Ezra that the ship was outfitted with intercoms in most of the rooms. A moment later he heard the door open behind him followed by the sight of Sabine taking her seat in the pilot's chair. She was wearing her armor now, though it's design was unchanged. Still, the sight of some stray blue and yellow paint on her face confirmed to Ezra that she had indeed been doing some artwork.

"How's your painting coming along?"

"Excellent. We might need to keep one of those cabins empty permanently."

"Hmm, you're getting awfully comfortable in there. It's still _my_ ship, Sabine." Ezra said playfully. "Well, maybe I can let it slide if you promise to get us through Mandalorian airspace."

"Poor, Bridger… always needing me for help." Sabine teased.

"Ha. Ha." Ezra gave a dry laugh. "I can try to do it if you want, but I can't guarantee we won't get blown out of the sky in the process."

"That's probably true. You seem to attract a negative disposition from all Mandalorians that makes us want to target you."

Ezra rolled his eyes at Sabine's joke before handing her the outgoing communications mic. Happily, she took it from his hand—taking notice of the brief moment where her fingers brushed his palm. Though she had closed herself off from him for the past few hours, Sabine's anxiousness towards Ezra hadn't lessened much at all. Still, she managed to keep a composed face as she began to speak into the mic.

"Attention Sundari airspace control, this is Sabine Wren. Daughter of Ursa and Alrich Wren, requesting permission for immediate landing."

Sabine and Ezra waited for a response—the silence in the air hanging between them. As the wait dragged on, Ezra threw Sabine an unsure look while the girl herself waited intently for the response she was sure would come. Both of their focus was then broken after a buzzy noise of static cracked from the ship's speaker.

"*BZZZT*… Copy that, Miss Wren. We've been expecting you. Just give us your transport's information and we'll guide you into one of our hangars."

"Copy, control. Call-sign is _Second Dawn_ , unit is a gray-colored YT-1390-"

"1930," Ezra softly interrupted.

"huh?"

"It's a YT-1930. You said, 1390. Actually, you said it when we left Tatooine as well, so… just thought I'd clear that up." Ezra finished his interruption, taking in the unimpressed stare his Mandalorian partner was directing at him.

"Right... the unit is a gray-colored YT- _1930_ ," Sabine finished, throwing one more sarcastic glare at her beloved co-pilot.

"Copy that, Second Dawn. You are clear for landing at East Hangar #3-Q. A representative from your clan should be there to greet you upon landing."

"Thanks, Control. Over and out." Sabine finished before shutting the mic off. "Wow, Mother must have some major pull within Mandalore's political society now."

"Why do you say that?" Ezra asked.

Sabine turned her attention to the boy, flashing him a smirk. "Most level three hangars are private, and _all_ of them feed directly into Sundari's uppermost level—it's where clan leaders and diplomats typically reside during summits. Of course, if I remember the naming system correctly… the one we're being directed to is a shared hangar, so there'll be _maybe_ one other ship in there with us. But still, it's pretty rare for someone outside the high-political circles to be invited to land in one of those… not a luxury you'll get to experience every day."

"Well, I don't think anyone in the galaxy lands their ship in the same hangar _every_ day."

Sabine rolled here eyes. "Ugh, you know what I mean."

Shaking her head at her partner's inability to keep from cracking a joke, Sabine accelerated their ship down into Mandalore's atmosphere. Breaking through a thin layer of clouds, the gigantically-domed Mandalorian city of Sundari came into view—its enormousness becoming more and more apparent as they drew closer.

"This thing is a city?" Ezra said in awe. He'd never seen such a sight in all his life.

"That's right. Pretty neat, huh?" Sabine responded with a delightful smile.

Seeing Ezra's reaction, Sabine was reminded of her own similar response when she first came here two years ago for the treaty signing. Her first thought then—and still now—dwelled on how awesome of a canvas the dome's dull gray surface would make for her artwork. Maybe she'd sneak out sometime before the wedding and tag something near the very top. If she could avoid getting caught, then surely anything she put up there would remain undetected for a long time. The idea excited Sabine, but her daydream was broken as she set her sights on an array of large, yellow-painted letters that seemed to stretch around the entire dome.

"The level three hangars…" Sabine confirmed to herself. "T… S… R…. Q! That's us."

With the skies clear, Sabine performed a wide turn toward the city, perfectly aligning their ship for a smooth ride through the hangar's entry.

Sabine shut off the rear engines, their loud hums fading to whispers as the Second Dawn came upon the hangar's magnetic shield. With a flash of white light, the ship slowly eased through it, revealing the small but luxurious interior of the hangar residing behind it. It was another fantastic sight the two teammates weren't used to seeing. Everything from the floor to the ceiling was sleek and polished—nothing like that dumpy, public hangar back in Mos Eisley. There were even long rows of planters lined along the back wall which doubled as water feature—trickling water down from its top before disappearing behind the plants at the bottom. The entire display was a clear sign Sabine and Ezra that this place was meant for people of a completely different social caliber.

The hangar space was split into two sides—verifying Sabine's claim that this particular private hangar was meant for sharing. For now, though, theirs was the only ship inside… not that it mattered to the two young adults. Sabine could picture some pompous diplomat who landed here huffing at the idea of sharing with another ship, or at least having their favorite spot taken—a thought that irrationally annoyed her.

"Does it matter which spot we take?" Ezra asked.

"I… don't think so?" Sabine hesitated. Thankfully, though, her attention was drawn to a man running into view and flagging them over to the left side. Sabine immediately felt embarrassed. The man's face clearly showed that he was expecting them to pick a spot themselves, only having to flag them down when it looked like they wouldn't and instead crash into the rear-wall.

"Is he our greeter?"

"No, Ezra. He isn't." Sabine sighed as she gently landed the ship and began flipping the necessary switches to power it down. "Mother will probably send a formal proxy. With a wedding this important, I doubt anyone from the clan has time to meet with us."

"Uh… I wouldn't be too sure about that…"

Sabine threw a confused glance at Ezra whose shocked expression was fixed ahead outside the cockpit's window. Curious, she joined her gaze towards the same direction, only to find herself in shock as well.

"M… Mother…?"

Sabine's eyes didn't deceive her. On the maintenance walkway they had landed in front of… postured as straight and strong as always… stood her mother—a gentle look in her eyes. In an instant, Sabine leapt out from her seat, nearly forgetting to release the ship's loading ramp before booking herself over to it. Reaching it before it could fully descend, Sabine dropped into a slide, slipping through the tight opening the ramp currently allowed. With a loud thud, the flexible Mandalorian landed into a roll, using the momentum to bring herself back up into a run on the hangar floor. Spotting the base of the walkway's stairs, Sabine ran under the ship towards it; and as the ship's hull cleared from her overhead view Sabine froze at the stair's base—spotting her mother at its top. The old Mandalorian woman gave her daughter an endearing smile which Sabine returned before sprinting up to meet her—the both of them closing the final distance with a deep embrace.

"Sabine…"

"Mother…"

In that moment, Sabine held onto her mother tighter than she ever remembered doing; and the warmth of the embrace reminded Sabine that for the first time…she had returned home to her family in peace.


	5. Unwitting Bachelor

**AN: Feels like it's been forever since I posted, but it's only been a little over a month which has pretty much been my consistent schedule for chapter releases. Because of the long wait I wanted to get this one to you as soon as it was finished so it isn't even on my website for you guys who visit it :). I'll post it there with some more scene-art soon, but for now just enjoy the fresh content. Also shoutouts to WestwardGlance for helping me get past a roadblock I was having with this chapter. Go check out his latest story, 'Family History', for some quality rebels content. Especially chapter 4. :)**

* * *

"Ugh, that annoying little… AGHHHHHHH!" Sabine yelled out, storming into the private bedroom she had been issued in Sundari's upper level. "And that damn Bridger too!"

The frustrated young woman threw herself onto the royal looking bed with a loud huff, clawing like an animal at one of the divinely laid pillows to press her face into. Her breathing was tense—evidenced by the erratic rise and fall of her shoulders with each gasp. Eventually, the girl tilted her head enough to let her nose breath the room's fresh air, but it wouldn't be enough to calm her down—not after what had just happened. All she could do for now was stare ahead at the bed's intricately carved headboard, and playback the horrible scene in her head…

* * *

"Sabine…it's so good to see you," Ursa breathed lovingly, holding tightly onto her daughter. "I've waited so long for our family to be together like this."

"I know, Mother. I've waited for this too…" Sabine let the warmth of her Mother's embrace encompass her mind, thinking how it would be fine if they remained like this forever…but, of course, there were other matters that begged discussion. "How is Dad doing? And Tristan!? I can't believe he agreed to marry that Soldrin woman!?"

"Her name is Lianna. Our clans are allies now, Sabine, and we will not speak of them so undesirably," Ursa said with a mix of love and sternness only a Mother could perfect.

"I…yes…you're right. I'm sorry. It's just…difficult to process. I mean, after everything they've-"

"I know what you would say, Sabine." Ursa interrupted. "And I cannot say it is something both sides haven't argued over during this peacetime. But it has finally reached a point where we've all moved on from it. Wren…Soldrin…all of us have resolved to put such grievances behind us for the sake of peace." Ursa tenderly cupped her daughter's cheek in her palm. "I hope you would show the same resolve as well from now on."

Sabine looked long at her mother, her brewing qualms completely stifled by the truth of Ursa's words. "I understand, Mother. Of course, I can do that."

Sabine smiled at her Mother who tenderly returned it.

"WHEW! Look at this place!" A voice bellowed from below—a voice Sabine regretfully recognized.

"Ezra…" The girl denounced.

"Hey, Sabine's Mom! It's great to see you again!" Ezra set down the luggage under his arms to wave at the two women—both looking down at him in more ways than one.

Ursa responded with a courteous wave before covertly whispering to her daughter in Mando'a. "Are you two-?"

"We're not…" Sabine coolly answered in her native tongue, patronizing the boy with her own hand-wave as he left to unload more stuff from their ship. "It's not a problem that he's here, is it? It was a complete coincidence that we were already on our way before I received your message."

"If you're inquiring about him attending the wedding, I'm sorry to say that all the events are invitation only."

Sabine let out a quick sigh. "I see…"

"I figured it would be fine for Tristan and Lianna to recite the standard vows and be done with it, but they expressed their wishes for it to be an event that could reinforce the new peace-accord. So, besides the entirety of clans Wren and Soldrin, they've also invited one or two representatives from every other clan as well."

"And, anyone else is barred from attending… got it."

"Indeed. The event has become rather political. It would reflect poorly on us if the other clans learned we made a special exception for ourselves."

"I understand," Sabine said, discouraged. She didn't realize it until now, but she really wanted Ezra to be there with her…if only to have someone fun to talk to during the events.

Ursa glanced at her daughter, noticing the faint, upset expression she was trying to hide. Then a thought came to her.

"Well, perhaps there is a way he could attend…"

"Really? How?" Sabine perked up.

Ursa meanwhile had already begun pacing down the stairs, stopping part way down to turn and give her daughter a rare, clever look.

"If he were being courted by an invited guest, then there would be no issue regarding his presence."

Sabine's reaction was mute until the gears in her head were kickstarted by the cunning glint in her Mother's eye. Her own eyes then grew wide with a red hue steeping around her cheeks to complement. It was their first conversation in two years… and five minutes hadn't even passed yet, but Sabine's mother had already figured things out.

At an embarrassing loss for words, Sabine could only watch as her Mother smiled before continuing down to the hangar floor. "Now then… let's get the two of you settled in…"

For the next few minutes, Sabine and Ezra loaded their belongings onto a set of trolleys that Ursa had summoned for the two. Before they could all leave, however, another Mandalorian came hustling into the hangar, pulling Ursa to the side where they talked in hushed tones.

"I'm afraid I must leave you for now," Ursa told them upon finishing her private conversation. "My attention is required elsewhere. But do not worry, Allen here will guide you to your rooms." Ursa gestured to the armor-clad man she had been speaking with. "Follow him to get settled in, and then you are free to do whatever you like. However, please leave your evening open. I would very much like for us to have dinner together."

Sabine and Ezra traded a quick glance with each other before turning to Ursa with grateful smiles. "That sounds great. Thank you." Ezra said, folding his hands together and offering a polite bow which Ursa returned.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you again, young Bridger. I'll see you both later this evening."

"Take care, Mother."

Giving one last formal nod, Ursa took her leave—shortly followed by Ezra and Sabine being escorted to their rooms.

With nothing to distract her mind as they followed their escort, Sabine toiled over the suggestion her mother had offered earlier—court Ezra so he can attend the wedding. A hot sensation immediately traveled up her cheeks at the mere thought. How could she possibly go through with such a plan? Sure, she could just explain the truth of the strategy to Ezra so he wouldn't get the wrong idea…but there was the _small matter_ of having everyone else believe they were dating!

"Ughhhh…" Sabine accidentally groaned.

"Something wrong?" Ezra immediately offered his concern.

Sabine looked at the boy, his kind eyes penetrating the clouds her troubled mind. Maybe…maybe this plan wouldn't be so bad? Maybe this was an opportunity to settle her feelings. An opportunity to see if this…crush…is actually something more? Something worth exploring?

"Uhh… Sabine?"

"Ezra…" Sabine looked ahead to their escort, making sure to speak softly enough so that he wouldn't hear. "I have to talk to you about the wedding."

"Oh yeah. Did you bring it up with your mom earlier?" Ezra spoke in his own hushed tone.

"Yeah… and there _is_ a way for you to be there… but…" Sabine hesitated, unable to get the last part out. It was just too damn embarrassing to say!

"But… what?" The boy patiently asked.

Sabine's eyes lingered on him. She had to say it. It wasn't like she was asking him to be her actual boyfriend…just a fake one for the wedding. And she _knew_ it would be much more fun to have him there by her side during it all.

Sabine made a hard swallow, finding her resolve. "Well, we would have to-"

"SABINE~!?" A girlish voice interrupted, echoing throughout the hall they had been walking down.

Everyone halted, turning back to look for the source of the loud call. Sure enough, there was someone behind them. It was a young woman, clad in a sharp design of charcoal and white colored Mandalorian armor, who looked to be about Sabine's age. She held her helmet beside her, allowing everyone to get a good look at her. She had long, brown hair, and a cute face to go with it. Sabine, even with the distance between them, immediately recognized the girl and her bright smile.

"Lira?" Sabine asked, before being tackled with a hug by the girl.

"Oh, it's so good to see you, Sabine! It's been too long!"

"Uh, yeah… likewise." Sabine replied with an awkward smile. "If you're here, then I take it you're Clan Wreslyn's representative for the wedding?"

Lira's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes! My father had initially planned to come alone, but I _begged_ him to let me accompany him! I knew it would be a rare opportunity to see you!"

The brown-haired girl nuzzled her cheek against Sabine's, who was visibly uncomfortable with the affection. A hostage to the girl's grip, Sabine looked desperately towards Ezra, her expression giving him the hint that she needed help to get out of this.

"So, uh…. Sabine. Who's your friend?" Ezra awkwardly chimed in.

Taking the opening, Sabine manneredly pushed the excited girl away from herself to introduce her. "Ezra, this is Lira Wreslyn. Her family has been a long ally of Clan Wren… since before even the days of the Empire."

"Lineage-wise, we're practically cousins," Lira interrupted, throwing an arm around Sabine. "But I prefer to think of us as sisters."

"Yeah. We're a bit…close." Sabine said with a hesitant expression that didn't match her words.

"Even though you're rarely around now," Lira pouted. "We played together all the time when we were little, but after you left to join the imperial academy I didn't see you for years until you randomly showed up and killed Gar Saxon!"

Sabine fidgeted out from Lira's hold. "I told you already, that was my mother. And I've been kind of busy fighting the Empire for the last decade…I told you at the treaty-signing we'd be glad to have your help, but you declined."

A disappointed look showed on Lira's face. "Father wouldn't let me go…he refuses to let me out of his sight when it comes to being on the battlefield."

"That's right…I forgot…" Sabine said, sympathetic. "Sorry."

Lira gave a grateful look to Sabine before lightening up into another proud, gleaming smile.

"So, Ezra right? How ever did you manage to win over my rebellious cousin?"

The question caused Sabine to nearly choke on the air she was breathing.

"Wha- we're not like that, Lira! We're just teammates traveling together." Sabine blurted out, thoughtlessly.

"Really? Then why did you two come together if he can't attend the wedding?" Lira turned to Ezra. "I mean, you look strong, but you clearly don't belong to any Mandalorian clan."

"Lira! Don't be rude!" Sabine chided before being caught off guard by a hearty laugh from Ezra.

"Well, we didn't know about the wedding until just this morning. I was kind of hoping it'd be alright for me to be here, but it looks like that's not gonna happen. I guess I'll just have to roam around Sundari until the wedding is over, Sabine." Ezra said with a smile that Sabine could tell was masking some light regret.

"Ezra…" Sabine responded softly. She wanted so badly now to tell him about her mother's plan to for them to attend the wedding together, but she couldn't until Lira was gone.

Oh no…Lira…

Sabine realized her mistake all too late. Just a second ago she vehemently denied that she and Ezra were together. So now if they were to pretend to be a couple, Lira would definitely be suspicious of them. Kriff.

"That really is unfortunate," Lira offered a condolence, though after a brief pause her face lit up and she smiled with glee. "Say…I think I might know a way for you to attend."

"Really?" Sabine and Ezra both said together in confused unison.

"Yes. You can attend the wedding with me…as my boyfriend."

"What!?" The two teammates said in sync once again, though one of them was much louder than the other.

"Wait a minute? How does that work?" Ezra asked, his cheeks flushing. Sabine meanwhile was internally screaming at the unexpected suggestion.

"All invited guests are allowed to bring a suitor…even if that person doesn't have an invitation." Lira devilishly answered.

"Lira…hold on. You just met Ezra five minutes ago," Sabine said, her blood pressure rising. "There's noway anyone would believe that you two are somehow a couple." She'd tried to say it politely but failed miserably. There's no way Lira didn't hear the irritated tone in her voice…

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about, Ezra can just tell everyone how _very persuasive_ I was. What do you think Ezra?"

The Lothalian was at a momentary loss for words—his brain trying hard to remind itself that her suggestion was meant for getting him into the wedding and not an actual romantic proposal . It was a hard-fought battle, but somehow Ezra managed to comprehend the cute girl's good intentions.

Sabine, however, had reached the opposite conclusion. Sure, she had always known Lira to be unwittingly rude and invasive, but she had to be hiding some nefarious intentions with this plan. It was too perfect an inconvenience. Maybe…maybe Lira was doing this to get under her skin? Sabine hoped that wasn't he case—for Lira's sake.

"Well…I don't see a reason to decline. How about it, Sabine? You think it's a good idea?" Ezra said, snapping Sabine out of her thoughts.

The troubled girl gave her teammate a hesitant look…but upon experiencing once again the kind, earnestness of his gaze, she found herself filled with determination. She wasn't one for backing down, and she wasn't going to start now.

"Actually," Sabine began. "I was thinking _we_ could go together, Ezra."

Ezra gave a dumbfounded look upon hearing the girl's unbelievable words.

"I think it would look much less suspicious for us to be there together. Wouldn't you agree, Lira?" Sabine finished, directing a subtle, arrogant look towards Lira. The tables had been turned—at least in Sabine's mind.

"Hmmmm….?" Lira hummed, pressing a finger to her chin and glancing repeatedly between Ezra and Sabine. "I don't know…I mean if you're both gonna keep traveling together after the wedding, won't that cause trouble down the road? Are you gonna pretend to date every time you come back to home? Cause I don't think anyone will believe that you'd still be traveling together after breaking up…"

Damn, Sabine thought. Lira made a good point. The only people in Sabine's family who would be aware of the ruse would be her mother and, probably, her father. And for everyone else it would look _real_ and be an invitation for all kinds of drama—something Mandalorians tended to look down on others for causing. Sabine was cornered once again.

"Aww, Kriff, I didn't even think of that," Ezra said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Now that I think about it…your mom would probably go ballistic, Sabine."

Sabine let out an annoyed breath. If only Ezra knew who it was that suggested they attend together in the first place. "I think she'll be fine, Ezra. I can deal with my family." Sabine rebounded. She wasn't going to give up the opening her mother gave her without a fight.

"No, Sabine, I can't let you risk your relationship with your family or the honor of your clan. Besides, it's not a big deal who I go with. I mean, I'll still _be_ there so let's just take the safer option, okay?"

To anyone else, Ezra's reasoning would appear thoughtful and well-meaning. But only a select set of words stood out to the now fuming Mandalorian. Not a big deal? The innocent phrase felt like a slap in the face to Sabine, who let out a frustrated huff. "Fine, go with Lira." With a harsh breath, Sabine grabbed the hovering trolley with her belongings on it and towed it behind her. Aggressively she went over towards their escort who at some point had decided to work on his data-pad in all the commotion.

"Sabine? Wait a minute-" Ezra tried to interject, but his teammate wasn't having any of it.

"Allen, I'm ready to be taken to my room now."

"Oh. Uh, yeah, sure. Right this way." The man's metallic voice answered from beneath his helmet as he scrambled to put his data-pad away.

"I'll see you at dinner," Sabine said with a callous wave of her hand back towards the happy couple. And just like that, Sabine left the dumbfounded Ezra and the curious Lira alone together in the hall.

"Wha…what the hell was that!?" Ezra asked, absolutely baffled.

"It's alright, Ezra. My cousin can be a bit…short-sighted when it comes to certain things." Lira said, apologetic. "That's why it's so important for people like us to look out for her. You made the right call."

"I guess so…but man she seemed pissed. I should have known better than to imply she couldn't handle her family's reaction to a fake relationship with me. Well, of course, _they'd_ think it's real…but still." Ezra finished with a blush as Lira broke into a brief fit of laughter.

"Oh, Ezra. You'll figure it out." The cute girl said with a wink.

"Figure what out?"

"It's nothing to worry about. Just be delicate with her at dinner tonight. And I'll see you at the first wedding event in a couple days, _boyfriend._ " Lira threw up a pair air-quotes for the last word before taking her leave down the hall.

Ezra watched as the last image of the peculiar girl rounded the hall's corner out of sight. Now he was all alone.

"Nothing to do but go to my room I guess." He muttered to himself.

Grabbing his own trolley, Ezra started down the hallway with it in tow until coming to an abrupt stop only a few steps after.

"…"

"…"

"I have no idea where to go…"


End file.
